By Suleiman Ibrahim.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) will subject prominent political figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former presidential candidates Peter Obi and Nasir El-Rufai, to a process of “disinfection” before accepting them as members, according to the party’s presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo.
Adebayo stated that this measure is necessary to prevent these individuals from “polluting” the party with the “contaminants” of their previous political affiliations.
“If you want to come to the SDP, you have to make sure that you allow us to apply disinfectant, not because we don’t respect you but because you are coming from a highly infected zone,” Adebayo said. “The same way we did it during COVID, when you go to your friend’s house. If you love your friend, he will disinfect you so that you don’t infect others.”
He emphasized the SDP’s commitment to maintaining its integrity, citing the party’s constitution and guidelines. “Our party’s constitution is well-sanitised. The party’s guidelines are well-sanitised. Chapter 2 of the constitution around which we are organised to render services to the Nigerian people, the quality of leadership that we want, the processes untainted by criminality, bribery, excessive use of money, the notion of ethnicity, religionism and all of that,” he explained.
Adebayo highlighted the grievances of potential new members, noting their experiences with perceived injustices in their former parties. “They (the newcomers) told us the calamity they were facing where they were coming from. Each of them talks about injustice. When Peter Obi left PDP, he said there was criminality and injustice there. El-Rufai is not shy about his calamity; how they [APC members] embarrassed him and how they were to give him a position, and they stole it from him in a disrespectful way and other things like that. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has his issues about how he ran, and some people in his party did not support him.”
Despite acknowledging their past experiences, Adebayo stressed that the SDP’s focus remains on serving the Nigerian people. “We sympathise with everyone who is coming, we know they’ve gone through a lot of trauma, but our job is to say: whatever your job is, leave it at the door because this political party is not about politicians; it’s about the Nigerian people.”
He concluded by stating that membership registration is conducted at the ward level, urging prospective members to familiarize themselves with the party’s constitution.
